


Until Summer Comes Again

by cap_and_cyborg



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Hotarubi no Mori e AU, M/M, Nonhuman Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 04:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4862633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cap_and_cyborg/pseuds/cap_and_cyborg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky first meets Steve when he is ten.  Throughout the years, they become closer, but Bucky can never touch Steve or else he will disappear.  That doesn't stop them from falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until Summer Comes Again

Bucky feels people watch him as he walks down the hall on the first day of senior year.  He ignores them, focusing on finding his locker and getting ready for class.

“Hey, man,” he hears someone say on his right, and he looks over to see Sam grinning at him.

“Hi,” he replies, nodding in greeting.  “How was your summer?”

Sam shrugs.  “It was good.  You would know if you were here.”

Bucky looks away, down the hall.  “I had somewhere to be.”

“Yeah, I know.  You look good, though.  New jacket?” Sam asks.

Shaking his head, Bucky gathers the leather jacket around him.  “Nah,” he replies.  “It’s from an old friend.”

____________________________________________

The first time Bucky meets Steve, he’s ten.

His family went to visit his grandparents in the country and he had gone to the forest, trying to get away from his younger sister.  He wandered too far into the dense trees and got lost.  After trying to find a way out for hours and not finding one, he sat down under one of the huge trees and tried not to cry.

“Hey,” he heard someone call.  “You okay?”

His head jerked up and he scanned the trees.  He saw a flash of blonde hair before it disappeared behind a tree, only to peek out a few seconds later.

Bucky jumped to his feet and rushed to the person.  “Do you know a way out?  I tried for forever, but couldn’t find any.  I’m Bucky, by the way. Bucky Barnes,” he said, holding out a hand once he reached the boy.

The other boy looked at the hand like it was a bomb about to blow and shrank away.  Closer up, Bucky saw that he was small.  Taller than Bucky, but shorter than Bucky’s dad.  But he wasn’t just short.  From where he was standing Bucky could see the boy’s collarbones and the bones in his wrist where his shirt ended.

“It’s rude not to shake someone’s hand,” Bucky said, quoting his mother.  He reached forward to grab the guy’s hand, only to have a tree branch waved in his face.  The boy was holding the branch like it was a shield, making it so Bucky couldn’t touch him.

“Hey, what’s the idea?!” Bucky exclaimed, jumping back to avoid getting hit in the face.

There was a fierce look on the other boy’s face as he stood in a fighting stance.  He looked slightly ridiculous, waving the branch at Bucky, but Bucky didn’t feel like laughing.

“You’re human, aren’t you?” the boy asked.

“Well duh, same as anybody,” Bucky answered angrily, raising his fists, ready for a fight.

“Not the same as me,” the blonde boy said softly.

That shocked Bucky enough into dropping his hands.

“What do you mean?”

After assessing whether Bucky was going to come after him again, the boy shrugged and lowered the branch.

“I’m not quite human.  I was really sick when I was a kid, and the doctors did a ton of experiments.  At the end of it, I wasn’t quite… normal.  I age differently than you and I don’t feel things the same. They found out that if anyone human touches me, I’ll die.”

Bucky tilted his head to the side.  “How old are you?” he asked, confused.

The boy shrugged.  “I was born twenty-six years ago, but I feel about thirteen.”

Bucky smiled hugely.  This he could understand.  “I’m ten!”

Smiling, the boy held out his stick.  “Come on, I’ll show you how to get out.”

“Cool!”

Bucky grabbed the other end and together they walked to the edge of the forest.  The sun was starting to set, throwing shadows all around them. Bucky was suddenly glad that he wouldn’t be staying in the forest alone all night.

“Do you and your family live here then?” Bucky asked.

There was a pause before Steve said, “Yes,” and nothing more.

There was silence until they reached the treeline.  Bucky felt like he had said something wrong, but didn’t know how break the awkward tension that was suddenly between him and the boy.

“If I come back here tomorrow, do you wanna hang out?” he asked, turning to look at the other boy.

The boy looked at him funny.  “Why would you wanna do that?”

Bucky shrugged.  “You’re interesting, that’s why.”

Again, silence fell.  The boy seemed at a loss of what to say.

“You never told me your name!” Bucky realized as he turned to go, unable to stand the silence anymore.

The other boy turned around and said nothing as he started to walk into the trees.  

“I’m gonna come back tomorrow, so you better be here, punk!” Bucky called after his retreating back.

“My name’s Steve,” he heard the boy call through the trees.

Bucky smiled, feeling like he’d accomplished something.  “See you tomorrow, Steve!”

And he did.  When he went back the next day, Steve was there waiting for him.  And the next day.  And the next.

They went on walks and Bucky told Steve about his sister, Rebecca, and his parents.  He talked about school and how he was going to be in sixth grade the next year.  Steve mostly listened, didn’t have much to contribute, but they walked and talked for the whole day.  Other days, they played games, careful never to touch.

Finally came the day that Bucky had to say to Steve, “I can’t come back tomorrow.  Me and my family have to go back home.”

Steve didn’t say anything, just looked down and nodded.

“I, um… I’d like to come back next summer.  Can we meet here again?” Bucky asked, trying not to let his embarrassment show.  He didn’t know why asking that made his cheeks heat up, but he was glad that Steve wasn’t looking.

“Yeah,” Steve said, looking up at Bucky.  “I’d like that.”

Bucky smiled.  “Cool!  I’ll see you next summer!” he shouted as he walked away.

Steve waved, then turned from the treeline and disappeared into the forest.

****  
  


____________________________________________

And the next year, Bucky did go back.  His parents were surprised how adamant he had been about wanting to go see his grandparents again.  The first day, he rushed out the door without much more than a, “See you later!”

Steve was waiting for him at the treeline.  He waved as Bucky ran up to him.

“Hi!” Bucky said, slightly winded.

Smiling, Steve watched him catch his breath.  “You actually came back.”

Straightening, Bucky looked at Steve curiously.  “‘Course I did, Steve.  I told you I would.”

Steve’s smile widened and he gestured for Bucky to follow him.  “Come on, I wanna show you something.”

They walked together through the trees until they reached a lake.

“You didn’t show me this last time!” Bucky exclaimed, racing forward to look into the water.  It was pretty clear, he could see a few shadows of fish.  “Look at the fish- whoa!”

The dirt under his feet crumbled and he began to fall face forward into the water.  He felt, more than saw, Steve reach forwards to save him, and quickly threw himself forward into the water.

Spluttering, he came back up and turned to see Steve still mid lunge to catch him.  They just looked at one another, Steve finally relaxing until he was just standing there while Bucky treaded water.

“Promise something, Stevie, would ya?  Don’t even touch me, okay?  Just… don’t,” Bucky said before going underwater and swimming away from Steve.

____________________________________________

The first time Bucky’s voice cracks in front of Steve, he’s thirteen and Steve cannot stop laughing.

The summer after Bucky turned fourteen, he took the train by himself to visit his grandparents.  His parents had been too busy to go and his sister wanted to stay and spend time with her friends, but he needed to see Steve.

That’s also the summer Steve tells him the truth about his parents.

“My dad died before I got all the experiments done on me.  My mom was a nurse and was with me through all of the tests.  She got sick though.  Once she found out that she would never get to touch me again, it was like her body just gave out.”

“So… you live in here by yourself?” Bucky asked.

Steve shrugged.  “Yup.  It’s not so bad.  There’s an abandoned hunter’s cabin that I stay in.  It’s home now.”

“It’s gotta be cold in the winter, though.”

“I’m used to it.  I have my dad’s old jacket that keeps me warm in the winter.”

The next day, Bucky presents Steve with a red, white, and blue scarf because 4th of July had just passed and that was the only fabric available.

When he turned fifteen, he realized two things: one, he was attracted to different genders than just girls, and two, he was in love with Steve Rogers. He thought that realizing that would make things awkward with Steve, but when he went back that summer, things were the same as they had always been.

Almost.

One night, Steve asked if he could go into town with Bucky and see the sights.  When Bucky replied that there weren’t that many sights to see, Steve had said that “Maybe I just wanna to see your stupid face under street lamps, ever think of that?”

Bucky snuck out of the house after the sun set and his grand parents had gone to bed.  He met Steve at the treeline of the forest and together they walked into town.  No one was out this late, so it was just Steve and Bucky walking through the streets alone together.  

Steve was wearing his dad’s jacket, practically swimming in it.  Bucky thought that he was adorable.

“Here,” Steve said at one point, pulling out the scarf that Bucky had given him years ago.  “Put this around your wrist.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow.  “Kinky,” he said sarcastically even as he tied the knot.  “Don’t people usually go on dates, talk about safe words before that kinda stuff?”

“Well this is a date, and my safe word is spirit,” Steve replied, starting to walk down the street. It wasn’t until the scarf tugged Bucky forward that his brain rebooted and he could move his legs to follow.

It was a fun night.  They walked through the streets and a one point Bucky ran into a still open pizza place to grab them a few slices.  While eating, they kept moving, talking between bites.

They stopped at a trashcan to throw away their paper plates and when Bucky turned to look at Steve, he had a determined expression on his face.

Steve picked up the scarf linking them in his free hand and lifted it until it was over Bucky’s nose and mouth.  Before Bucky could ask what he was doing, Steve leaned forward and kissed Bucky through the fabric.  Bucky knew that technically they weren’t touching, but his whole body felt electrocuted by the contact.

Steve pulled away, and Bucky so wanted to reach out and drag him back, but he stopped himself.  One kiss would have to be enough for now.

“I never told you, but I really like this scarf.  Thank you,” Steve said, starting to walk again.

“I’m glad,” Bucky replied softly, following him.

They walked in silence for a few more blocks.  That was, until the silence was broken by a cry for help.  It came from down one of the alleyways, and neither of them hesitated to rush forward.

A man had a teenage girl backed into a wall and she was crying, begging for him to let her go.

“Hey!” Steve shouted, running up to them, the scarf coming undone and fluttering to the ground behind him.  “Leave her alone!”

His shouting caught the man by surprise, and his grip loosened on the girl enough that she slipped out and ran down the alley and out of sight.

“You little runt, mind your own business!” the man yelled, swinging at Steve.  Steve ducked and retaliated, punching the man in the nose.

Bucky jumped into the fight and distracted the man before he could try to hurt Steve again.  The man tried to ward off the blows, but Bucky didn’t stop until the man turned and ran.

Breath heaving, Bucky turned back to Steve.  “We got him!” he exclaimed, jubilant at their success.

“Yeah, we did, Buck.  But you know, I had him on the ropes,” he joked weakly.  He was staring at his hand, the hand that he had punched the guy with.  It was slowly disappearing into a glow of blue light.

Bucky’s eyes widened as he realized what happened.  Steve had hit the guy.  He had touched a human.

But that meant…

No…  
  


“Oh no, Steve…” Bucky whispered.

Steve looked up and their eyes locked.  They looked at each other in shock as Steve was slowly illuminated with blue light.

Holding out his arms, Steve’s face broke into a huge smile.  “Come on, Buck.  I can finally hug ya.”

Bucky beamed as he threw himself forwards, into Steve’s waiting arms.  Their lips met for a millisecond.  Even as he felt Steve’s arms encircle him, he felt him fade into nothing, until all he had left in his arms was a faded brown, too big leather jacket with a pool of clothes at his feet.

He didn’t realize he was crying until tears dropped onto the leather.  He quickly brushed them off and then buried his face into it, trying to feel the last remnants of Steve’s warmth, his smell.  They were still there, faintly.

It took him a long time to get up and leave that dark alleyway.  He left the other clothes, but took the jacket with him, to remember.  Maybe someday, after the smell of Steve had faded and the memories didn’t hurt so bad, he’d wear it himself.  

**  
** For now though, he just carried it in his arms, nose buried in the collar.  A last reminder of Steve Rogers, his friend and the first love of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Like it says in the tags, major character death. This was inspired by the anime Hotarubi no Mori e, which you can find on Youtube. It's pretty short, but inspires major feels. Enjoy!


End file.
